


The Gift That Keeps on Giving

by enigmaticblue



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 20:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1702160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enigmaticblue/pseuds/enigmaticblue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spike asks Dawn for a little help finding the perfect gift for Buffy’s birthday. Set in an alternative post-Chosen future wherein Spike and Buffy are together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Spike stared at Dawn, more than a little frustrated. “I asked you to help me, Bit, not shoot down every suggestion I make.”

 

“I _am_ helping you,” she replied pertly. “All your ideas have been stupid ones.”

 

“See if I bother remembering _your_ birthday next time,” he muttered in response.

 

Her sigh was audible as she began listing off the suggestions he’d made so far. “You got Buffy weapons for Christmas, and she already has enough of those. She likes chocolate, but the other Slayers will probably get to them before she does; you know how they are about sweets. And flowers will die.”

 

Spike shrugged uncomfortably. Everything Dawn had said was true. “Jewelry then.”

 

“What have you got in mind?” Dawn asked skeptically. “Because Angel gave her jewelry.”

 

He bit back a snarl, the one that escaped every time someone mentioned the Great Poof. “I’m not Peaches.”

 

“Which is why I point that out. I’d make it earrings,” Dawn said sagely. “She likes those, and if diamonds are involved, she’ll definitely be happy.”

 

Spike wasn’t all that interested in that particular idea now, however. Just the reminder of Angel had him thinking of the last time he’d seen the two of them together. At least Buffy hadn’t kissed Angel when she’d shown up to haul him back to Italy with her.

 

Spike still didn’t know who had told her he was back, although he suspected Andrew. The little weasel never had been able to keep his mouth shut, and he had always been a sucker for a good love story.

 

Then again, Spike couldn’t really complain about the outcome.

 

“Fine. No sparklies. What else is there?”

 

Dawn led the way into a tiny café. “Come on. I want to warm up, and the stores are closing anyway.”

 

They were led to a table, and Spike ordered a glass of wine, glancing at Dawn when she did the same. “What?” she asked when the waiter had departed. “I’m old enough here.”

 

“I know. Just surprises me a bit, is all. Forget that you’re 18 sometimes.” Time passed so quickly for humans, and they changed so fast. Spike wished he could forget that.

 

Dawn shrugged. “Well, at least you don’t treat me like a kid. I don’t think Buffy’s realized that I’m actually an adult yet.”

 

“You’re her kid sister,” Spike responded. “’Course she doesn’t. Besides, you know Buffy. She worries.”

 

Dawn accepted the glass of wine that was handed to her and ordered a pasta dish that looked appetizing in steadily improving Italian.

 

Spike shook his head when the waiter asked for his order. “Not hungry,” he said. “Thanks.”

 

“Okay,” Dawn said when they were alone again. “What’s this really about, Spike?”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“You’re totally freaked about getting Buffy a birthday gift,” Dawn pointed out relentlessly. “You guys have been together for almost a year now, and I think she’s going to be happy if you remember and there’s no apocalypse. What gives?”

 

Spike sighed. “Just that I want—” He stopped, wondering what he was doing, talking to the Slayer’s younger sister about this. Hell, Dawn was one of his best friends at this point, and she was right. She wasn’t a kid anymore. “I want to give her a good birthday for once.”

 

“Do you have a way to ensure that there isn’t an emergency?” Dawn asked. “Because that will do it.”

 

Spike’s eyes narrowed in thought, then he gave it up as a bad idea. “Heard about somebody who did a trouble-free spell once.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“He got all the trouble that had been waiting for him. Doesn’t get rid of trouble, just puts it off, then you get hit ten times as hard.”

 

“Okay, so get her out of town,” Dawn advised. “Go somewhere else.”

 

“Kidnap her, you mean.” Spike only wished that was possible. Buffy’s sense of duty was likely to keep her in Rome as long as there were Slayers to watch over. They hadn’t had a night off since he’d moved in.

 

“If that’s what it takes.” Dawn grinned at him. “Come on, Spike. Surely you can think of something that she’d like. You guys are practically attached at the hip.”

 

“Spending that much time apart will do that to you,” he shot back. “And just because we spend a lot of time together doesn’t mean I know what she wants for her birthday.”

 

Dawn’s eyes narrowed in thought. “Okay. What did you say when you asked her?”

 

“Said she wanted me,” Spike mumbled, playing with the stem of his wineglass, remembering the expression on his Slayer’s face when she’d said it. “Said all she wanted was me, and it would be a perfect birthday.”

 

“And that’s why you want it to be perfect.” Dawn’s expression was compassionate.

 

“Yeah. That’s why.”

 

Dawn snapped her fingers. “Got it.”

 

“What?”

 

“Whatever you do, do it the day before Buffy’s birthday,” she said. “That way, you won’t be bothered with the curse.”

 

“There’s no such thing.”

 

Dawn shook her head. “Last year was almost as bad. You would think that it was just living on the Hellmouth, but we had a swarm of Kvek demons last year.”

 

“Maybe I’ll find someone who can figure out whatever curse it is and break it,” Spike said.

 

“That’s actually not a bad idea,” Dawn said with a smile. “But I think you might want to save it until next year. I doubt you have time at this point. Her birthday is the day after tomorrow.”

 

“I know that.”

 

“You want to tell me why it took you this long to even start shopping?” Dawn prodded. Spike knew that she wasn’t going to be put off again.

 

“I got something for her already,” he admitted. “I just don’t think I can give it to her.”

 

Dawn’s eyes went wide. “You did buy a ring.”

 

“How the hell did you know?” Spike demanded.

 

“We have a pool,” Dawn replied matter-of-factly. In response to what he knew was his shocked expression, she rolled her eyes. “Oh, please, Spike. You’ve been dropping hints for months now.”

 

He slouched in his chair, now glum. “So how did you notice when your sister’s been oblivious?”

 

“Oh, my God.” Dawn stared at him. “Did you not _get_ her hint?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“‘All I want for my birthday is you.’” Dawn mimicked her sister’s voice perfectly. “That was a hint, Spike.”

 

“It was?”

 

“Trust me on this one.” Dawn smirked. “You’d better start planning your proposal, buster.”

 

“Ah, hell.” The wheels in his head began to turn rapidly. “I’m gonna need your help.”

 

“Anything for my future brother-in-law.” Dawn sounded smug, and she turned a dazzling smile on their waiter when he brought her food. “ _Grazie_.”

 

“If you knew this, you could have put me out of my misery hours ago,” Spike said sourly.

 

“But that wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.” She grinned at him. “Oh, come on, Spike. Just think. You managed what most men never do.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“You found the perfect gift, the one that keeps on giving.”

 

Spike just shook his head. He still had some planning to do.


End file.
